Untamed
by Silver Lady7
Summary: BV AU Vegeta is exiled in a forsaken planet for conspirating against Freeza. Will he be able to escape some day? Censored, softer version for this place.
1. My Name is Vegeta

First Part:

_**Disclaimer and Notes:**__ I don´t own Vegeta, I just torture him a little. ;) _

_My sincere thanks to Tempest and to Tryniamerin, who helped with grammar and gave me valuable suggestions. I´d like to know your opinions, too, just don´t beg me to update soon. __Actually, I hesitated of posting this new fic since I already have so many unfinished ones to work; but had to take these scenes out of my head. ___

**Chapter 1**

"**My Name is Vegeta"**

The air grew tense. The immense beast raised his head, smelling the breeze along with his mate. The birds were utterly silent, a warning of danger in the woods. However, the only vaguely familiar smell belonged to a harmless animal that wouldn't offer any distress to the almighty langozaurs. After a few moments, the couple relaxed and returned to their grass meal.

Langozaurs were herbivorous, but they were also among the biggest creatures that inhabited the forsaken world. The number of predators that dared to risk their lives for their meat was very small. This was especially true when it came for a couple, and the female was pregnant like that type. Pregnant female langozaurs released hormones that softened their meat, giving it a sweet taste. The other chemical was a smell that put their mates on alert, causing them to be more protective. So they were supposed to be in relative safety. Or at least they would have been five years ago, before a mysterious star fell out of the sky like a punishment for an uncommitted sin. From that night on, a new unknown beast terrified all animals. Both predator and prey were targets as long that they weren't too little to deserve his attention. The strange being seemed to have a taste for the biggest, most dangerous ones. Unlike the cruelest predators, which killed only for food or to defend territory, this creature killed also for pleasure.

A pair of black eyes peered through the foliage, mere centimeters from the male langozaur. They remained as still as the rest of their owner's body. The only movement that any observer could detect was a slight tremble at the tip of his tail firmly wrapped around his waist; this trembling was also the only thing that betrayed his excitement. All his tense muscles bulged magnificently beneath his tanned skin covered only by a mixture of grease and fluids from harmless animals.

The list of things he hated could fill a thick book. That greasy stuff would certainly be written in the first page; however, there wasn't another option. Throughout his long exile, his subtle smell had become well known to the animals of the rainforest, and it was enough to terrify them. At least that was better than the excrement he had used first.

The big male snorted. Having no more leaves from his previous side, he started to turn in search for more in other place. The hidden hunter couldn't lose this chance.

He jumped. His small foot slammed into the langozaur's side, forcing the huge animal to the ground. Sending a cloud of dust into the air it landed in the grass. At the same time a loud bellow betrayed the surprised fear and pain of the male langozaur. However, a mere single push would never be sufficient to ground the king of woods. His bellow changed from fear to rage as he swiped his long tail dangerously toward his foe, while he balanced on his legs to stand up again. The tail of a langozaur was its most dangerous part, not only because of the strength of its impact, but also due to the poisoned spikes on the tip. Even one single scratch could bring death to animals. Well the little man knew this fact for he had almost died from a strong fever caused by an injury on his first try hunting the beast, before his powerful Saiyan constitution won. He had become a specialist at avoiding those tail spikes after that disaster. As he jumped aside he sneered, easily avoiding the dangerous appendage. While it swept away from him, he arched his arm down, chopping the base of the tail with the side of his hand, cleanly severing it from the langozaur's body.

A horrible wail echoed throughout the valley, scaring birds and other animals away. It warned them that the menace was back, for it wasn't the first time they heard that sound. The langozaur roared in pain and incredulity. Although he had won many fights against other langozaurs and predators of many other species, none of them had inflicted such pain. Before he could recover from his shock, the little creature jumped to the dinosaur's torso and pummeled him mercilessly. The beast reared with rage and tried to reach him with his teeth; but the man stood at the tallest spot of the langosaur´s back where the beast's big snout couldn't reach him. He laughed and taunted the animal, savoring the beast's despair and rage.

If the man still had his powers, such hunting would have been very different. He would simply fly towards the beast, and blast the prey's head with the palm of his hand. Unfortunately those powers had been denied him since he set foot in this blasted, little place. All he could count on then was his agility and his incredible strength, and he excelled with both.

_Okay, enough playing._ He took one step, putting himself at the range of the beast's teeth. The creature bared his teeth menacingly, thinking he could bite his enemy, then charged. _Bad move._ The small man jumped aside, avoiding the teeth, then once again raised the palm of his hand. A few seconds later, the langozaur´s head thudded against the ground.

The female had watched the fight between her mate and the small creature. When her mate fell, she stood frozen in her place. The man almost could see her puny brain struggling with the dilemma of either attacking him or running away. Finally she charged him, with an enraged booming sound. _Silly choice_, thought the man, though it actually didn't make any difference. Whether she attacked or ran, her fate was sealed.

He jumped aside, avoiding her attack, and rolled until he was under her belly. Even though Langozaurs possessed very hard skin, the flesh of their bellies was vulnerable, though hard to reach. However, he was small enough to slide between her heavy, swollen abdomen and the ground. The female stopped abruptly as she felt an excruciating pain tearing her from groin to gullet. She made a move to try and turn away… but it was far too late. Her body crashed to the ground near her mate, while a jet of blood sprouted through her belly, right on the face of her aggressor. He seemed pleased at this, if not more excited than he already was. She stared at the little monster bathed in the blood that belonged to her and her unborn cub. Tiny eyes round and wide with terror she watched as the hand of death came down once again to cease the pain. Then she never saw anything again.

Wildly, the man laughed as he shredded his dead prey into smaller pieces with his teeth and hands. Repeatedly, he gnawed on the raw, bloody flesh, more for the joy of slaughtering the animal than for hunger. He chewed, ate, laughed, and bathed in blood, until he finally collapsed in exhaustion. He laid face down on the bloody soil for what seemed to be eternity.

Suddenly, his eyes opened. He turned his face to his side, as he inhaled slowly and repeatedly, like someone who woke from a nightmare.

"Vegeta. My name is Vegeta. I am the... prince of the Saiyans," he muttered, remaining in that position for a moment before turning again and leaning up on his hands.

The sound of his own voice sounded alien to him. Back in the days of his former life, Vegeta used to think aloud whenever he was alone; an habit he had kept during his first two years of staying in that forsaken place. As the time passed, the habit became rarer and rarer, until it diminished to occasional mumbles. Save for roars and gloating laughs during his hunting, most of time he just grunted. His life had changed so much that many things he used to do without conscious thought before were almost completely forgotten. Like eating cooked meat, wearing clothes, or even… cleaning himself daily.

He stood up and looked down, suddenly self-conscious of his nudity, as well of the way his skin was completely covered with dust, grease, blood, and God knows what else. He swept the blood from his mouth with one dirty fist, feeling the skin at the back of his hand tickling as it contacted to his chin. _Damn it_. Luckily Saiyans tended not to grow beards much, and he always had been proud of his clean-shaved, square jaw. What was this place doing to him?

"That's it. Much more of this, and I'll be on all fours, snarling and slobbering, just like any of these pathetic brutes," he said.

The Saiyan picked up one of the biggest pieces of meat he had tore apart, and started carrying it easily toward his lodgings. Even though he would like to march right over to the river to have a bath, he knew that if he abandoned his hard-won meat out in the open, there would be little left of it when he returned.

A few days after his arrival on this world he had lodged in a cave as his refuge. Nevertheless it soon became clear that it wouldn't be "temporary". The odor of the monster that had "generously" given him its home (and whose fur still adorned his bed) still persisted as it now mixed with his. That was enough to keep most of the thieves away, though there wasn't much to steal. _And,_ Vegeta wrinkled his nose in disgust, _soon the smell would be enough to keep him away! _

He glowered at his bed as he put the meat down. It was a simple hole carved on the floor that was filled with furs. The improvised bedclothes needed some cleaning and sun, no doubt about that, - but not now. He still had to slice the meat in pieces, maybe some fire to dry it… _damn_, he hated doing that! Yet he also realized preparing it that way, preserved the meat so it lasted longer, and provided a welcome change after so many months eating raw meat. Vegeta crouched and picked up an object next to the bed. It was a triangle-shaped dagger, made of luthaniun. It was a rare mineral, especially because most of the planets that contained it didn't exist anymore. He had found it among the bones of the unfortunate fool exiled there before of him, that and…

Along with his line of thought, his gaze diverted toward a pile of rocks at the bottom of the cave. He walked toward it, crouched again, and carefully removed the rocks one by one. It was a useless act, since he knew by heart what was in that hole, but he couldn't help it. Such a compulsion resembled a kid who checked up on his most precious treasures with the excuse to see if they're still as he left them before.

After all the rocks were removed, a small orange ball with one star on it was revealed nestled on what seemed a pile of old, dirty rags. Vegeta picked the ball up, looked at it for a moment, and then put it aside. Besides the dagger, it was the only valuable item he had managed to extricate from the bones of his predecessor. Vegeta never could understand why the deceased man had carried it with him, since it didn't seem to have any use. Perhaps it was an amulet… if it was, it probably hadn't given its former owner much luck. Vegeta didn't know what had possessed him to pick up the useless little thing, perhaps because he never could find out what material it was done.

At last, the most precious items.First he touched a pair of spandex pants and shirt, which once had been navy blue, but the year had given them an undefined tone. Second were an equally pair of off-white pair of boots with metal tips that once had been golden. Originally a pair of white gloves, and Saiyan battle armor composed of a special substance resembling rubber would complete the outfit, but they had gone long time ago. At that time Vegeta finally realized that his clothes were starting to wear out. They obviously wouldn't last until some ship arrived to rescue him from this blasted small planet. The very idea of loosing even that remnant of his old self had almost panicked him. For a while he tried to replace them with the leathers and furs taken from his kills. However, he never had learned how to properly tan them. Not only did those new "clothes" reek, but also were very hot for the climate. So he decided to line his bed with them, since the nights were a little cold. After that, he experimented with wearing thongs and loincloths. Yet they restrained his movements and were very tickly, not to mention that he was as unprotected with them as if he wore nothing. Besides, it was ridiculous to display modesty in a place where there was no one else but mindless animals that didn't give a shit about the sight of his dangly bits!

Almost with affection, he unfolded the pants and shirt. An unpleasant odor emanated from them, but Vegeta hardly noticed it. He felt a strong, unbidden desire to wear them, despite the smell. Just for a few moments, to remember who he was. A stupid act, but… Those clothes gave him so many memories-- none of them actually pleasant, but now they looked bitterly sweet. How many times he had complained of the chains that bound him to his damned lord? He had been far freer then than he was now.

With abrupt movements, he folded the clothes and put them back in the hole along with the ball. After finishing piling the rocks, he marched out of the cave, and then picked up the knife as he passed. He didn't stop until he found a clearing containing a giant waterfall. It was the only thing on the planet that Vegeta didn't hate. Initially, he used to stalk his prey there when they came to quench their thirst, but soon he started catching himself coming there just to sit and meditate. This place gave him something he never possessed in his former life. It gave him peace.

Vegeta jumped on a rock on the middle of the river, right where the water fell, and closed his eyes almost blissfully at the sensation of fresh water on his heated skin. He tossed his head to one side then the other swinging his long hair and sending drops all over. For a long time he stood there even after all blood and dirt had been washed out. Then, he picked up the knife and sat on one rock near the earth to shave. Vegeta rarely used the dagger, preferring his bare hands, but occasionally, it was useful to slice a piece of meat, and especially to shave. How ironic. The sucker that had been killed before his arrival had probably killed to have that knife. But here, it was as worthless as langozaur poop. This place transformed a treasure into an ordinary razor blade... and it changed a Saiyan prince, an elite warrior and victor of countless battles, into an insignificant, naked savage.

Unconsciously, the tip of the dagger penetrated his cheek. A tiny blood drop sprouted. The Saiyan lowered his hand, and stared the bloody tip of the weapon. Luthanium could cut even Saiyan's skin... _perhaps maybe to penetrate though __ribbons of muscle and flesh__, right to the heart..._

Screaming horribly, he turned around and tossed the knife away. It lodged itself in a rock, just as easily as if it were butter. Yet Vegeta didn't see that. He was too busy climbing the rocks besides the waterfall, using as much strength as he could. Deliberately he chose the sharpest boulders to step or lean on, not caring about the bloody stains he left behind. The waterfall plunged down a hundred-foot fall. While a normal being required roughly two days to climb it and they would be exhausted when they finished it, but Vegeta wasn't even panting when he reached the top.

He stood at the top of the rock, and stared at the vision in front of him. From up there, he could see the rainforest spreading, like a green sea... and the mountains, far beyond. This place was both his domain and his prison.

The sun was setting. It marked the end of one more senseless day much like the one before, and the one before that. Until the cycle finally and mercifully finished. _Such a thing could take years, centuries... _even he didn't know how his people's maximum life span. Saiyans could live much longer than common mortals of other races could, but they were usually short-lived because of their bloodthirsty behavior.

_A death in battle_... the best death for a Saiyan. Even that was denied to him. The only death he could have on this miserable world was at the hand of one of those laughable beasts, what was less than shameful.

He looked down. _A fall like that perhaps could end this all_... he thought. Unfortunately he would probably end up with lots of broken bones, and, perhaps starve in extreme pain when he couldn't move. Another alternative was to throw himself in the river and drown, but that was even worse than stabbing himself. The only forms of suicide considered acceptable for a Saiyan were either to explode in an onslaught of energy that simultaneously destroyed his enemies or simply to bury his hand in his chest. He had heard of a few cases of such rituals in his childhood, relegated for Saiyans exiled in dishonor. This was their method of cleansing themselves of their infamy, while regaining a bit of pride. Yet he no longer could use ki.

He was trapped here forever, with no escape. It could take years for someone to arrive, if that ever happened. If the day did come he'd be far too old and weak to take any benefit from rescue. He had no clothes, no power, and no dignity. Absolutely nothing. Freeza had thought of everything. He would eventually go insane, and kill himself, as the last step of his degradation. Already he was going crazy…

"Freeza!" he screamed to the air. His voice was strangled by despair, but also with a newfound energy.

"You may have taken everything from me, but you can't make me kill myself! Are you listening, you coward, son-of-a-bitch? If you want me dead, you'll have to kill me YOURSELF!" His fist rose in a useless curse because the architect responsible for his torment was light years away, completely unreachable.

Suddenly overcome with a wave of exhaustion, he collapsed. Facedown he sprawled on the cold rock, oblivious to the small tears that for the first time spilled from his eyes.


	2. We re Not Alone in the Universe

Chapter 2- We´re not Alone in the Universe

Chapter 2- We´re not Alone in the Universe

The distant, muffled bellowing broke the peaceful silence which only the soft murmur of the ship devices dared to interrupt - until now. Within a matter of seconds, the bellowing grew stronger and stronger, turning into an enraged scream that seemed to cause the face of the walls to vibrate, even from the place they were seated. The scream was followed by a string of colorful curses mixed with what seemed like stuttering apologies in another voice. A new sound, like the clattering of pans, added to the din, while the stuttered excuses, in their turn, changed into yelps of pain. The two little warriors remained a few moments with their eyes closed, but, as much as they tried, it was clear that their concentration was lost. The bald one was the first to open his eyes, resignedly. He wasn't much taller than his five-year-old companion; at the first sight someone could easily mistake him for another child, but he was actually an adult man.

"It's hopeless, Gohan," he sighed, as the black-haired boy opened his eyes, too. "We'll have to wait until they finish this new fight, before we can start to train again."

'And then we'll only have a few minutes to train before they´ll start to fight again,' he added in mentally, but didn't voice the thought.

Gohan was likewise frustrated, but his expression showed more confusion than annoyance.

"I wish they could fight in their minds like us," he said. "That would be much quieter. I can't understand why Oolong so badly needs to see women without their clothes. Do you think that he wants to make sure that they're really women, Mr. Krillin? I heard Master Roshi say that Daddy used to do that when he was young."

Five years old or not, Gohan was really Goku´s son. The serious, inquiring tone used by the boy just increased the hilarity of the question, and it was in vain that Krillin tried to suppress a laugh.

"Uh, no. Oolong doesn't… well, he's pretty aware who's a woman and who's not, no doubt about that," he managed to say, between giggles. The boy's round-wide, innocent eyes reminded Krillin of himself, and he struggled to regain some composure. "That's all I can tell you," he said, inhaling a few calming breaths. "Please don't ask me more about that. You mother would kill me if I explained it to you further."

Gohan looked even more puzzled than before; however, any further questions he could ask were forgotten, because at the next second a small gray rabbit burst into the control room, his big ears flapping behind him. As he ran towards the boys, his soaked fur left a trail of small puddles. He screeched to a halt within mere inches of Gohan, the animal's small body heaving at every breath he gave.

"H-help! Help me! Bulma´s having a tantrum!" he managed to articulate.

"And what have you done now to make her throw a tantrum?" Krillin asked cynically. In response, the rabbit scowled and shook himself, tossing the water off his body and over the two small warriors, who winced and yelped in protest. With a puff of smoke, the rabbit vanished to be replaced by a chubby pig clad in t-shirt and green pants with suspenders, but still with big, floppy ears. He gave a last shake as he glared towards Krillin.

"Nothing! Why do you always blame me for everything that happens in this ship?" his voice had a tone of outraged innocence.

Krillin ignored that.

"So why are you all wet?" he smirked, rubbing his arms to get them dry. "You were spying on Bulma in the shower again, that's obvious."

Oolong glanced nervously over his shoulder and toward the door he had entered.

"Details, guys, details! C´mon, are you going to help me or not?"

Just at that moment, they heard the sound of wet footsteps approaching. Without expecting any one's response, Oolong instantaneously turned into a fly and ran, err, flew off, so fast that the boys couldn't see the direction he had taken. A few seconds later, Bulma stormed into the room. Krillin and Gohan almost jumped out of their skins when they saw her.

Her body was still dripping wet from the shower, but it was decently covered by a knee-length pink robe, whose shoulders were already soaked with the water that fell from her damp, limp hair. Actually, she wouldn't be a frightening vision by herself, if it wasn't for the fact her blue eyes were sparkling in fury and that her right hand held a huge frying pan, which the crew suspected was probably a present from Chichi.

"Allright! Where is he? Don't try to cover him up, boys! I warned Oolong that I wouldn't let it go next time. Can't a lady take her shower in peace?"

"Lady?" Krillen echoed cynically. Bulma threw him a glare that caused both the boys to shrink.

"We don´t know where Oolong is now." Gohan blurted out. "He turned into a fly and disappeared."

Nodding understandingly, Bulma simply crossed her arms and smiled.

"That's allright. He has been transformed for a while, so his 15 minutes must be done now. And this is the only way out of this room, so he'll have to go through this door, sooner or later. I'll just have to stand here and wait..."

She was cut off at the end of her phrase by a low grunt. The trio turned their heads around to see smoke quickly appearing from under the control panel and a small red, scowling rocket flying toward the exit door, almost knocking Bulma out of the way. However, it had barely reached the threshold when the puff of smoke happened again to reveal Oolong hovering for a mid-second in the air with a frustrated expression before landing on the floor with a huff.

Three loud bangs echoed throughout the whole ship, and it probably would have been heard outside, if it wasn't the vacuum of outer space. Krillin and Gohan stood still, both feeling a mixture of fear and amusement on their faces as they watched Oolong rub the bumps on his aching head.

"Next time you try replacing my bath sponge I'll throw you in the toilet bowl and flush you down! I'm not kidding." Bulma threatened as she turned around and strode regally toward the door, one hand modestly clutching shut her robe and the other still holding the now misshapen frying pan.

"I was just trying to make you feel better!" the pig bellowed at her retreating figure."You should be glad that at least I still see you as a beautiful woman, since the rest of universe doesn´t!"

Krillen and Gohan giggled at this. Very recently, they had visited Sheezoo, a very primitive planet, in search of the one-star dragonball. The precious item, however, happened to be among the most precious adornments of one prominent and brawny golden-skinned warrior - a great type of man, actually, despite of his baldness. Bulma had tried to flirt with him in order to get the sphere - that's what she had said- but the man had reacted with horror, at the 'pale, hairy, two-breasted scarecrow' - as their electronic translators had registered. In the end, Gohan had won the dragon ball by defeating the warrior in a duel, but Bulma had spent three days moping around and mumbling about stupid blind aliens.

At Oolong's words, she immediately stopped dead in her tracks, turning on her heels to tap angrily a bare, humid foot.

"I am a beautiful girl!" she bellowed. "And the Sheezojins are not the entire universe. Only because the few members of a small planet have some twisted notions of beauty, that doesn't mean that all the aliens we'll met will think like that," she paused, then barreled on with a smile. "Besides, remember that there are lots of different cultures spread throughout the universe, many of which we have no idea about. So it's no wonder that some alien races have a different way of thinking about what is beautiful and what is not."

Oolong's smirk grew wider.

"Yeah, that must be quite a comfort. You didn't seem to think like this when those people thought that even Krillin was prettier than you. Those amazons even wanted to fight for the privilege of having him for their harems!"

"HEY!" Krillin blushed slightly at that, but smirked. "Not my fault if someone finally notices my "beaute male"…"

He didn´t finish speaking however, for their attention was diverted by a scratching noise coming from Bulma´s side. She had given them her back and was perusing through a box of capsules. The trio gasped as they stood paralyzed in anticipated horror.

"Easy, Bulma, you don't need to do this… we were just kidding!" Krillin stuttered.

"Not fair! I can't transform yet!" said the pig in terror as Bulma tossed a capsule down. However, instead of the bombs, bazooka or whatever weapons they had figured out, it revealed a bucket filled with water, a scrubber and a few rags. Calmly, Bulma picked up the cleaning supplies before turning again and walking towards her friends.

"Allright," the angry scientist snapped as she handed each of them one of the contents of the capsule. "If you have time enough to invent pranks and no-fun jokes, you have enough time to clean all this mess." She gave a stern nod towards the puddles created by Oolong and herself, which were spread throughout the control room and the hallways. Regally, Bulma turned again on her heels and marched towards the door. Before leaving the room, she halted on the threshold and turned her head to look at the trio over her shoulder ,"When I come back, it'll be better if everything is shining." And with this, she finally left.

"We have nothing to do with that!" Krillin bellowed after her, before grudgingly grabbing the scrubber. "I hope you're happy now," he interjected at the culprit of their situation. Oolong, however, looked revolted, rather than showing any sign of shame or guilt.

"The only thing that'll make me happy is to go back to Earth!" he sputtered. "Bulma didn't have to be so cross; she's supposed to be grateful to me for having paid her some attention. I have nothing to do with this mission of yours, and I wasn't even allowed to bring a few 'innocent' magazines to distract myself."

"You can borrow my books, if you like," offered Gohan as he knelt to dry the puddles with a cloth.

Oolong shrugged off the offering with a wrinkled nose.

"No, thanks. The only book that could actually interest me would be one of female anatomy, and very specifically. After all these weeks seeing nothing but butt-faced aliens, I'm starting to forget what a girl's body looks like. When we'll become to Earth, I'll probably fall for the ugliest witch that'll appear in front of me, and I'll think she's a goddess!"

Krillin shook his head. Oolong was definitely hopeless. In at least one thing he was right, however he never should have joined them in the trip. After the Saiyans' attack, when Mr. Popo showed Bulma the spaceship that had taken Kami-Sama to Earth, they had discussed about who should go to save their planet from the grim destiny traced by Turles.

At Bulma's dismay, she was the first one to be chosen, because nobody else would be able to fix the ship if it happened to break during the trip. But then, she protested she couldn't go alone and pointed to Krillin, one of the few survivors of the terrible battle. Goku and Yamcha were terribly injured and the rest of the Earth warriors were dead. However, Kameroshi butted in that only one warrior wouldn't be enough to protect her against the dangers they would probably find in space, and volunteered to go with them. His leering eyes fixed on Bulma through his black glasses clearly showed that his real intentions weren't as noble as his words. In despair, Bulma had glanced around until she spotted Oolong. Probably she had thought the little pig was the lesser of two evils, for at least she could bully him in order to keep his hands off her. With Kameroshi, that would be more difficult. In Krillin's opinion, however, that was trading the kettle for the bottle. When Gohan begged to go with them, instead, both Bulma and the shapeshifter breathed a sigh of relief, but then, Chichi was revolted that the pig was low enough to allow a innocent, 'helpless' child to go in his place, and there had been no way except for Oolong to go, too. A decision that didn't make anybody happy.

The choice of the crew reminded Krillin´s of the reason for their trip.

"One thing I must agree with you," he sighed. It´ll be a great relief when everything is finished. I don´t even want to figure out what´ll happen if we won´t be able to gather the black star dragonballs before the time is over."

At this, a saddened look appeared in Gohan´s chubby baby-face.

"Pity that those Namek dragonballs were used months ago. They had three wishes, instead of one, like the Earth balls. We could have used the second wish to bring Mr.Piccolo, Mr. Tenshinhan and Chauzou back."

Krillin turned his head to look at him. During the short time they had fought the Saiyans together, he had grown attached to Goku´s son, and he knew how much the boy missed his stern sensei. Gohan´s face had lit up when the Ancient told them about the two wishes… just to have his smile fall in, when he learned the two wishes had already made five months ago. Touched by the gang´s disappointment and despaired by that news, the Namekians had told them about the black star dragonballs. It was their only hope of saving Earth. However, those spheres granted only one wish.

"Yeah, but remember what Guru said… they promised that, within four months they will bring our friends back. So you will see Piccolo again, anyway!"

"It´s true!" Gohan laughed, his face lighting up.

"Eww, I don´t know why you like that green ugly guy so much," Oolong shuddered. "You should have asked them to use the second wish to make Yamcha´s face back, too."

A guilty silence fell over the control room. They had forgotten the worst victim of the Saiyan battle.

"Hate to admit it, but that´s true. I had forgotten that," Krillin said as he looked down at the metal floor. And I am the one who, of all people, should have remembered that, in the first place! he thought guiltily. He would never forget those terrible moments after they landed with Bulma´s airplane to retrieve the corpses of their friends killed by Nappa, the giant Saiyan. Krillin had been the first one to get close to Yamcha. To his surprise, when he touched the body of his friend, the little monk felt a slight movement. Yamcha was still alive! Krillen let out a happy squeal that drew everyone´s attention. And then, as Bulma flew towards them with Mutenroshi and Master Karin on her toes, Krillen turned the body upwards. The trio froze instantaneously and let out horrified gasps. For minutes that seemed like a lifetime, nobody said or did anything. Then, Bulma´s face went white and she fell forward before anybody could say anything, without a yell or word.

Apparently, Yamcha had managed to struggle free from the saibaman's embrace and had backed away from it a few seconds before the vegetable monster exploded. However, he was still too close to not be affected by the explosion. Half of part of his face had been torn apart. He was now in a coma, in the same hospital as Goku, but nobody was sure if he would live. Master Karin had promised that everything would be all right as soon as he could get senzus for the two injured men. That had seemed to lift Bulma´s spirit a little, and throughout the next few days she apparently had returned to her cheerful usual self, but now, thinking back, she seemed to avoid the matter. A wave of guilt washed over him. During the entire trip, he had lamented several times mentally that they had to take Bulma with them. The young scientist managed to be even worse of a burden than Oolong, with her constant whining and bitching. She was always getting in trouble and needing to be rescued. Nothing of this was new, but honestly, she was managing to be worse than her usual self.

"But… Master Karin promised that Yamcha-san´s face will be good as new when he´ll eat the senzu!" Gohan said.

"Oh come on kid, get real. There's LIMITS to everything! I was looking at the cat as he said that… his forehead was dripping with sweat! How can we be sure that the sensu would even work for..."

"Don´t listen to him, Gohan!" Krillin cut off the pig´s rambling. "**I** believe in Master Karin´s abilities. It´s natural that we´re all nervous especially Bulma. And if the senzu won´t work, we may ask Shen-long when we´ll come back to Earth. Everything will be allright, you´ll see," he forced a smile.

"You must have caught Goku´s optimistic virus, all of you," Oolong shook his head, then shrugged. "Well, how much longer till the next dragonball?"

"We must be close, by now, since the last time I checked. Gohan, may I see the dragon radar?" the monk asked, only to receive silence as a response. Krillin turned around to see Goku´s son staring absently at outer space through the window.

"What´s wrong? Did you see something funny?" the little man asked with concern.

"No… It´s just that I feel… I feel funny… like if we´re not alone."

Vegeta frowned and shut his eyes even tighter as he shrank and embraced himself in a fetal position, searching for any last remnants of his corporal heat. That blasted Freeza, he had locked him naked into one of his ice cellars again! The last time that had happened, he had been taken out of there just in time before he risked losing his members, but his tail had to be cut off. However, this time, he didn´t believe he would be so lucky. Vegeta squeezed his eyes even more tightly shut, not wanting to look at his hands or feet. In his mind, he already could see his fingers and toes growing dark with gangrene…

His face was leaning against a rough, irregular surface, which was nothing like the floor of the ice cellar. His eyes snapped open just to blink instantaneously because of the water that didn´t stop entering into them. Slowly, he sat, brushing his face with one hand, feeling the weight of something clammy that stuck onto his back - his own hair, soaked and heavy with water. He took one breath then another, and blinked again, as his thoughts slowly reorganized themselves in his mind. Gathering courage, he raised his hands towards his face, to stare at them, as raindrops incessantly drummed against their healthy, rosy skin. He glanced hurriedly at his feet, though in the back of his mind he already knew it was unnecessary: he wasn't in Freeza's cage, but on the same, abandoned planet he had been for the last number of years!

Vegeta raised his head, feeling the rain against his face, his eyes almost closed and no smile on his lips, despite his great relief. He was naked, yes, and cold, too, but that was because of the rain, and not because of the tortures of the insane half-lizard. He was in an open space, stuck forever on this planet, yet somehow free, for since the beginning of his long exile he never had seen the surroundings of a cellar again. Well, at least there was something good in this wretched situation. But... what use that could have for him?

Lightening flashed through the sky, making him blink for some moments. How long had he remained up there, at the top of the waterfall, after having allowed himself to drown in despair and exhaustion? As he slowly stood up, a wave of shame and self-disdain swept his mind. How could he have allowed himself to break down like that? Even if he had lost everything, he was still Vegeta. Even if he had to spend one million years in this forsaken place, no one or nothing could take that from him.

The thought, however, reminded him of his lost hope of ever leaving, and he felt his stomach sinking. Perhaps, the former prince thought absently as he looked at the landscape below, he should try to see what was behind those mountains. Nothing guaranteed that he was the only intelligent form of life living in this world… anyway, to sit here forever wouldn´t take him anywhere.

Suddenly, he sneezed. That wasn´t the best moment for existential thoughts. He could make his plans later, in a dry place.

He had started his way down the valley, when his sensitive ears caught something above the rumble of the thunder and the hissing of the rain. A sound that was initially weak, but was gradually and ominously growing stronger with each passing second. Oh no.

Vegeta gave a quick glance above his shoulder a split second before starting to run, as fast as the wretched wind allowed him. Because of the blasted rain, the river had been growing thicker, until its waters could no longer be restrained by its banks and invaded the shores, smashing down everything in the way. Vegeta had seen lots of floods like that. Usually that didn't worry him, because his cave was in a higher place and out of reach from the hungry waters. He had even taken advantage of the floods to get his meat. However, that was the first time he was directly in the way of the danger. Damn it! Why he hadn´t stayed up there?

A group of trees was getting closer . His only way was to climb one of the trees, and hope that it would be strong enough to resist the force of the water. His chances were minimal, the flood was too close, but like always, he was confident. Vegeta could run faster than most of the animals. Frequently, he had caught small saurians in the run, before pulling them by their tails.

But he wasn't fast enough.

A wave of muddy water hit his back with the crushing impact of a dinosaur's tail, taking the air of his lungs and throwing him face-down. In a matter of seconds, the brown water surrounded him before Vegeta had time enough to jump on his feet again. Gulping water, he still braced, in order to try and keep his head out of the waters, but the waves balanced him back and forth.

Then something hit him on his head.

However, even if he wasn't unconscious, he wouldn't have noticed another thing coming; maybe the thunder and the roar of the flood didn't let him hear. The fact was, he didn't notice the sound announcing the arrival of something that would change the destiny of this small, forsaken planet. Something that he had given up on relying for hope several hours ago.

The sound of a spaceship.


	3. Out of Obligation

**Chapter 3 – Out of Obligation**

"I should have allowed Mutenroshi to come with us, instead," Bulma mumbled furiously as she slipped quickly into into a plain, pearl-white pair of cotton panties, with a matching bra before searching for the rest of her clothes in a small closet at the wall. "At least he would be of some use and couldn't transform into sponges, bath towels, or undergarments."

As if all the danger and concern they had been through weren´t enough, she also had this nuisance to worry about. The beautiful scientist couldn´t even pee once without the feeling that the little pervert was hidden somewhere, peeking in on her. It would be a wonder if when they went back to Earth she wouldn´t be all filled with wrinkles and gray hairs.

_"I should have allowed him to bring his damn porn magazines. At least he would have other girls to ogle about…even if not as pretty as me. But here out on space, I´m the only __**human**__ woman around, with hair and two breasts," _she concluded proudly as she finished pulling on the black spandexes that had become her uniform since the trip had started.Save for a few orange, baggy vests to wear over them--and undergarments of course --she hadn´t brought anything else to wear. Rather she had been thinking they´d would spend most of time in spacesuits. Sighing, she pulled a vest from the closet and slammed shut its door with a push.

It was all Chichi´s fault, with her stupid idea of a baby-sitter. Ha! Oolong wasn´t even able to take care of himself, let alone of a kid that was far much smarter and stronger than he was. Only Gohan´s mother didn´t see things that way. Bulma wondered if all normal mothers were so paranoid about their kids (her own mother couldn´t be exactly classified as model, so Bulma didn't exactly have a standard to define what _normal _was). Fortunately, she´d planned to never have children.

Unbidden, the memories of her last visit to the hospital where Goku and Yamcha had been committed floated back into her mind. All she wanted there was a nice conversation with to Goku, hoping that his optimism and comprehension swept her fears away; Unfortunately Chichi had found her presence the perfect opportunity to read for her a "small" list of recommendations about Gohan´s needs and duties. Actually, she had planned that lecture for Oolong, but the reluctant baby-sitter was nowhere to be found –probably hidden somewhere and turned into something microscopic.

"… 101 – He must eat vegetables every day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Usually at breakfast I mix them in our miso-shiru. It would be good if you could do the same, so he won´t miss it. 102, He has to go to bed ALWAYS at 8:00 P.M, after having brushed his teeth. 103 – He never can be allowed to talk to strangers."

"But Chichi..." Goku said from the mechanical cocoon in which he had been enclosed to be kept from moving. "Everybody they'll meet in this trip will be a stranger, so Gohan won´t have anybody to talk but Bulma, Krillin and Oolong! People in other planets will think he´s mute or rude."

Chichi carried on as she hadn´t heard him, "...I hope I haven´t forgotten anything. Ah, here's the list of the books he must study during the trip, so he won't be too late when you'll come back to Earth." She unrolled another piece of paper, slightly longer than the recommendations list.

"No fairy tales or bed time books? Or toys? We're plenty of space in the ship," Bulma asked sarcastically, but once again Chichi didn´t respond. It wasn´t clear if the young mother was truly absorbed at in the list or if she was deliberately ignoring any opinion different from hers about how Gohan supposed to be raised. Her frown deepened as she scanned the two long paper sheets for the millionth time. If she forgot to add anything to them, the results could be tragic.

A deep sigh came from Goku´s side of the room.

"I wish I could go with you, Bulma," he said quietly.

Chichi tilted her head back and gave him a crossed look, for the first time acknowledging his presence since she had entered the room.

"Me, too," she snapped harshly. "So Gohan wouldn't have to sacrifice himself once again to fix the troubles caused by you." she growled (already used snapped) out before turning her attention to Bulma again, but the young scientist noticed a hurt look flashing on into Goku's eyes. She could understand how difficult it was for Chichi to be separated from her only child again after that long, agonizing year wondering if the poor boy was dead or alive. However, her friend could be more sensitive. How dared she to talk about sacrifice when Goku had given on his own life to save their son and had almost been killed a million of times for the sake of the others?

"I'd happily change places with you, Goku, if I could," she said, earning a smile from her injured friend.

Chichi spun her head around to face the older woman, her eyes softening instantaneously.

"We know that, Bulma," she said reassuringly. "Both you and Puar have been through a hell because of Yamcha. Nobody deserves that. I know how hard and how painful it must for you to be separated from him for so long, without even knowing if he´ll still be alive when you´ll come back to Earth..."

Bulma paled visibly, lamenting that the Ox King wasn´t there to shut the mouth of his stupid daughter… well, at least to try any way. Yet they were alone, the three in that room. Although Goku noticed her distressed look and opened his mouth to ask his wife to stop, Chichi carried on, completely unaware of the discomfort she had created.

"But, even though you´re so busy with the preparations for the trip, I think you should save more time to spend with Yamcha, even if he´s still unconscious. After all, you´re going to marry someday. Look at me, for example! God knows how hard is to be Goku´s wife. But I never neglect my wifely duties, as hard as they can be," she let out a long-suffering sigh, her eyes closing proudly at her self-sacrifice.

She opened them again just to meet Bulma´s own blue orbs throwing sparkles of pure anger. Her body trembled visibly, while both her teeth and fists were clenched tight in a vain attempt to hold back her increasing rage. Chichi´s eyebrows lifted in surprise, but before she could say anything, Bulma widened out her own mouth in a grimace that make her teeth look like a beast´s.

"You´re hardly anyone to teach others how to be a good wife!" she roared. "At least **I** never jumped over Yamcha´s injuried body at the battlefield, or blamed him for things that were completely out of his hands!"

With that, she turned on her heels and darted out of the room, before the wide-mouthed Ox Princess could react. Mainly, before the couple could see the tears in Bulma´s eyes. The same tears that now threatened to spill just did so at that exact moment, as she stared at her own distress in the mirror.

_"Damn it… from all the things why did I have to remember this, specifically?"_

As horrible as it sounded, Bulma frequently thought that it would have been far much better if Yamcha had died. At least he would have joined Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu in heaven to train and improve his fighting techniques, which never had been that good to start with. He would never be in a coma in a hospital, only to regain consciousness just to be kept under the sedation of drugs. So much so that the pain wouldn´t make him crazy, even putting him at risk of becoming a junkie. Most importantly, the ones who loved him would be of course grieving, but wouldn't go through the agony of watching him in such a horrible situation while remembering how he used to be.

"_Yamcha… you were so beautiful…" _

By the time when the ship was finally ready to go (pick by the time or when, don't use both of them) , Chichi had 'forgiven' Bulma´s outburst, by associating it to the tension and stress her poor friend was dealing with. The young housewife hadn´t any way of knowing that her comments had touched a secret wound in Bulma´s insides; a wound hidden deeply but kept open and throbbing with guilt. The young scientist never had worried too much about whatever people thought about her, but this was very different. She wondered if the rest of her friends thought the same as Chichi that she had been neglecting Yamcha. It hadn´t been completely an excuse, she really had been busy restoring Kamisama´s ship and acknowledging the preparations for the trip… But, the main reason of her visits to Yamcha being so few was that it was a torture to enter his room to see him covered with tubes and bandages like a Frankenstein´s creature. Also how difficult it was to see Puar´s loyal, scrawny form hovering around the bed, a shadow of his cheerful former self. His devotion to Yamcha had touched and worried them all, but was also somehow unnerving for Bulma. There were moments where she felt like chocking the little cat, for whenever he looked at her she felt like he was censoring her for not being so dedicated to Yamcha. For not standing there the whole time and forget to eat and sleep, at the point that Bulma and Chichi had to fight to shove some food into Puar´s throat, or he would have starved. He was a constant reminder of her secret guilt. And yet, she couldn´t help but feeling the way she did.

Karin had reassured them that Yamcha´s face would be perfect again as soon as he ate the senzu bean. However, as much as Bulma wished to believe that, inwardly she was as pessimist as Oolong, despite her optimistic façade. It was all well and good that a magic bean could make wounds stop bleeding and broken bones, but could it also restore torn flesh and skin?

If they didn´t… Plastic Surgery wasn´t well developed enough on Earth yet, even the best doctors in the world wouldn´t be able to restore such a destroyed face in a perfect way. With luck, it would become, at least… functional, one might say. He would be able to eat without tubes and talk. Perhaps even the vision in his right eye could be restored. Yet, he would need physiotherapy and specially, a place to stay, where he could receive as much love and care as he could. And he would need her, Bulma.

As much as the rest of his friends took on, the main responsibilities would rest on her shoulders. They were already doing so, in fact – it was the Capsule Corp. that was paying all the treatment given to Yamcha (Ox King was paying Goku´s ). This was a duty that Bulma would embrace with all her heart, without any shadow of a doubt. Although she no longer saw Yamcha as her boyfriend, she´d always care about him, just like she cared about Goku. This was the major problem. It didn´t matter that they had split up before the fight with the Saiyans, because according to everyone she was still commited to Yamcha. And now that he was in such a terrible situation, everybody certainly expected that she would officialized their union to him once for all, as soon as he would recover. Ultimately making certain that she married him.

It´s so easy to judge someone when you´re not in their shoes! Kindness and generosity were supposed to be things given spontaneously, not out of obligation. If you sacrificed yourself for someone, you're automatically a saint, a wonderful person. Unfortunately it never occurs to anybody that, sometimes you haven´t another choice, because if you don´t play Miss Selfless, then you´ll automatically be considered a selfish, inhuman, complete monster! People´s minds always worked between 8 and 80. That would undoubtedly be what would happen to her—Bulma-- if she broke up with Yamcha or fell for another man now.

"I really shouldn´t think of that. Must have faith. If senzu beans won´t work, the dragonballs will do the trick it. We´ll have them back on Earth when the Namekians resuscitate Piccolo, they promised us that. Ooh… I should have asked them to heal Yamcha, too."

Bulma blinked quickly, as if she feared that her image in on the mirror was replaced by the face present on her nightmares: the hole in the right cheek exposing white teeth and red gum, in deep contrast to the destroyed skin of the borders. She closed her eyes and looked again, to see her own, anxious face. Damn it!

Very recently, it had started plaguing her dreams again, after so long. Probably because of so many empty days without no any searching at all. All the danger and distress they had went through at their former quest for the black star dragon balls, and the planet Namek before that, had at least served as a distraction from her personal problems. Yet now, despite the crew´s attempts to keep in good humor, the tension could be occasionally noticed in their eyes. Gohan could sometimes be heard whining for his mom, dad or 'Mr. Piccolo' when he slept, and Oolong had started stalking Bulma, no longer caring if he would be spanked or not. And she… she was gradually growing crazy! Everybody couldn´t wait to see the mission finished and come back to Earth at once.

"_And yet, despite wishing that as much as the others, I catch myself dreading the moment we´ll come back to Earth…" _ she thought, looking tensely at the mirror again.

A fist beating on the door brought her back to reality. Bulma took a deep, calming breath before opening it.

"Have you already finished the cleaning you were supposed to do?" she practically barked, even before even looking who was waiting outside, as if Bulma feared that the person out there had heard her musings.

The messenger, who happened to be Gohan, took a cautious step back.

"Uh, yes..." he said tentatively, like wondering what he had done wrong now. "Krillin told me to call you," his timid expression was quickly replaced by an enthusiatic smile. "We found something you must see!"

"And what is it… oof!" Bulma gasped as Gohan took seized her hand and hurried back to the bridge. She was forced to bend over because of his shorter size, as she stumbled to match his pace. In a few moments, they had traversed crossed the short hallway that led to the control room. At the sound of their steps, Krillin quickly turned at to them, his face beaming as much as Gohan´s, as he clutched the dragon radar in his hands.

"WE FOUND IT!!" he yelled with an enthusiasm that matched Gohan´s, as he practically scampered towards them. "We found the last black star dragonballs, Bulma!"

"Hey, wait a minute. We still have four dragonballs to search for, remember?" she said a little sceptically as the monk handed her the radar. Suspiciously, Bulma frowned at her small invention, just only to wide her eyes almost instantaneously.

"It´s... it´s not possible!" she gasped, staring at the arrow that signaled no. 3 at the screen. Then she noticed something else.

"There´s another dragonball, here," she pointed at a signal no. 1, at the extreme point where the no. four was on the grade of the device. "It´s far away from the other three, but all the spheres are in the same planet, no doubt about it."

"Reduce the scale," Krillin said, now in a much calmer tone.

When Bulma did that, the dragon ball coordinates indicated a small, lone planet in front of them. It was an unknown system, with a sun slightly bluish and much farther from its planets than Sun was from Earth far enough to make life possible under the stronger radiation.

They stared at the planet through the screen of the control panel (or a telescope, or something alike… I think that certainly Bulma has installed something to stare at the space, since those curved windows of Kamisama´s ship didn´t look much good for that)

"I never heard of this planet before. It simply doesn´t appear in any of the maps," Bulma said, after a few moments fumbling with the pile of maps they had won on other planets or that she had drawn herself during the trip. "And nobody among all the people we met in our journey ever mentioned it."

"I still think it looks too good to be true," Oolong finally mumbled from his spot. "Remember those two pink aliens we found that pretended to be Namekians to steal our ship? Maybe it´s another bandit trying to trick us."

"That would be too much of a coincidence," Krillin stated. "Those aliens were telepathic, and were trapped in that vortex. There´s no such vortex around here like that now."

"But Oolong has a point," Bulma reasoned. "I´m not saying that it really might be aliens like those guys, or if it´s another trap for us, but someone else might be collecting the dragonballs. Remember that not everyone knows that the Namekians survived to the cataclysm of Namek and moved to another planet. We´d never had found them, if it wasn´t for Kaioh´s help."

At her words, everybody sobered up and started exchanging worried glances among themselves.

"People might think they´re extinct and thus think that the normal dragon balls are no more. That´s probably why they want the black star dragonballs, too. They´re legendary throughout the universe," Gohan added, his worried eyes darting to every one of his friends. "Turles, for example! He could be collecting them, since he couldn´t get the Earth ones because Piccolo-san was murdered," his voice trembled slightly at the last word.

The name of the creature responsible for their trip sent a shiver into everyone´s spines. Oolong looked particulary sick, even he never had been anywhere near the battlefield at that terrible day. How could someone look so much like their friend Goku, who all they loved and trusted, and be so horribly evil and twisted inside?

Finally, Krillin slowly held his head up, a slow, determined expression appearing on his face as he started to talk.

"But if we don´t go, we´ll never know. Maybe it´s a trick, as Oolong said, and a waste of time. But what if it´s not? The Earth might be doomed just because we didn´t try?"

Bulma and Gohan nodded in silence at him, the same determined look appearing in their eyes, too. In silence, the bald monk stretched his arm out and offered his hand to them. The first one to put a hand over his was Gohan, then Bulma, and finally Oolong, after receiving a few glares at his hesitation.

"To the unknown planet!" exclaimed Gohan.

"May that be the end of our journey!" Krillin added.

"But not the end of our lives," Oolong finished with a gulp.

Pulling her hand back, Bulma straightened up and put both hands on her hips in a commanding stance.

"All right, let´s stop blabbering and go to your assigned seats. I´m going to tell the computer to land, so it´s better you guys sit tight or you´ll be flattened like pancakes against the floor…"

She hadn´t yet finished her phrase and everybody was already strapping their seatbelts, with an ease brought from the practice of so many abrupt landings and taking offs of their female 'pilot'. As Bulma herself settled cosily into her own seat and punch the keys to input the coordinates into the computer, she felt a small chill arise into her stomach, very different from the natural feeling caused by the velocity of the ship going down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, somewhere at the jungle…

"Ugly, isn´t he?" asked a high-pitched voice in a scornful tone.

Although their leader was a Saiyan, he never had been under the pink lizard´s swell, unlike the rest of his people. As a typical Saiyan, he loved battle and was proud; but it was his pride which caused him to feel a slight disdain for his race, for allowing themselves to become slaves, with only one exception.

_"Kakarott... even though you think like one of those pathetic Earthlings, at least you have this in common with me. We both treasure our freedom above anything else. So unlike your brother and that stupid Nappa..." _meditated him at the darkness of his control room.

Sepsi - Pepsi

Keco - Coke

Fruki, Brama, Kuato, Tartika - marks of guarana, a popular, Brazilian non-alcoholic drink

Ginger - ginger ale

Root - root beer

Fanta (say 'funta') - an old drink with orange taste


	4. The Hunted Becomes the Hunter

**Chapter 4 - The Hunted Becomes the Hunter**

_Vegeta's head jerked upward as his eyes snapped open. Blinking for a few moments, he glared at the inside of his small pod. He couldn't tell exactly what had woken him out of the hibernation. Everything was apparently doing well; the computer worked normally and the pod was going to its destination. So why did he keep feeling like something was wrong?_

That eerie, uncomfortable feeling had pursued him since he had arrived at the Ice Planet base. The mission hadn't been very harsh, so Vegeta hadn't gained more than a few superficial scratches to which even a recruit wouldn't pay a second thought. A cold shower, a quick meal and a few hours of rest in his bunker were all he needed - after he had presented his routine report, of course. Inwardly, he hoped that Zarbon was too busy now to receive his report and handed the task to any random officer at hand. That snobbish, blue-faced rascal had claimed to know everything about Saiyans, and even looked down on them, although he wasn't the only one to do that. The three surviving Saiyans, Vegeta especially, were the target of the spite of everyone in Freeza's quarters that were stronger than or as strong as them. And Zarbon, if possible, could be even harsher than the others, because his insults were more subtle and smarter, thus more difficult to put up with. Vegeta's only comfort was to know that someday that he personally would put an end on all that.

_To his surprise, however, as soon as the prince stepped out of the pod, he was greeted by a couple of soldiers that escorted him to the infirmary, where the doctor in charge told him to undress and step immediately into one of the regeneration tanks. "What's that for? I'm fine..." he started, but the doctor just insisted for him to do what he was told, they had orders for such._

_Giving a shrug, Vegeta obeyed. A few minutes of relaxing wouldn't do any harm, anyway. As soon as the liquid in the tank was above his head, a slow dizziness started overpowering his senses, surprising Vegeta slightly. Hmm...he hadn't imagined he was so tired! Well, some rest wouldn't do any harm at all... _

_It probably took him just a few minutes, but it could have been hours as well. _

_Vegeta had just finished dressing and was about to leave the infirmary when he almost collided with the exact person he wished not to see that day. Oh joy. _

_"Why such a hurry, Vegeta?" Zarbon asked, his eyes cold with disdain as always. "For all I know, you don't have anything important to do."_

_"What do you want?" the prince spat, holding himself to not push the girly pansy out of his way._

_"Master Freeza has assigned a new mission for you. You must go immediately to the planet Nutek. Your pod is waiting at Pier 8."_

_  
Vegeta received the news with a raise of his eyebrow._

_"I just came back here and he sends me away without even wanting to listen my last report?" he asked with scornfulness "He must be really sick of my face!"_

_Zarbon frowned his beautiful forehead, his eyes narrowing with anger. But after a few seconds, his expression softened a bit, as if he remembered something pleasant._

_"It's not for us to question what the Great Freeza's purposes are. Just go to Nutek and wait for further orders." He whirled on his heels, making his white cape fan with the movement, and then made a pause to glare upon his shoulder at the small Saiyan. "Perhaps if you respected your superiors, you would have more free time to rest." _

_Planet Nutek, Sector 40F. Vegeta shook his head mentally as he strode through the hallways. He had been to Nutek a couple of times. It belonged to a new system recently discovered by the scout parties. The immense planet was rich in varied natural resources and precious minerals, like lanthanum, and its inhabitants had advanced technology. For all those reasons, Freeza decided to spare the planet instead of having it cleaned and sold, like usual. Instead, he had sent the Ginyu Troops to terminate most of the population, and enslave the survivors -most of them scientists and technicians, so he could make good use of their knowledge; although Freeza insisted it was just his 'generosity'. "The same generosity he gave to me", Vegeta mumbled to himself. That was just a contradiction. A bunch of suckers who let themselves be enslaved in order to have their pathetic lives spared didn't deserve any pity, in his opinion. _

_He wondered why in hell he had been assigned to that place, out of all the planets in the universe. According to the latest reports he had overheard-most of the info in the quarters was obtained by gossip or overhearing-the planet was calm now, after the Ginyu team had suffocated the last remaining focuses of rebellion and just waited for permission to leave. Perhaps they were getting bored and had asked Freeza to send him, so they could have some poor sucker to torture by forcing him to watching their stupid choreographies... that would be very like them. Nah, that was silly. Freeza wouldn't trouble himself by sending anyone for such a futile thing, as much as he spoiled the Ginyus. It was more probable that horned worm wanted Vegeta to do some bureaucratic service. The thought made the prince cringe inside. Freeza didn't thrive only upon fear and torture to get submission from his subordinates, he had more subtle ways, too. Like humiliating a subordinate by assigning him tasks below his position; that was very like an Icejin._

_But the main point, the one that intrigued him most, was why they had him wasting time in the regeneration tank, if they were so hurried for him to go. He wasn't even seriously injured, and Freeza had never bothered himself with not sending a soldier to war because he wasn't in perfect health._

_Well, soon he would know. Nutek wasn't that far._

_As Vegeta cozened the best as he could into the small pod, he sent a brief message via scouter to Nappa about his mysterious new mission. His former bodyguard and nanny was as shocked as him, and also disappointed. So, their next reunion was cancelled? Vegeta just smirked as he reassured him. It was all right, they just would have to be patient and wait a little more before they met again, in order to keep working on their secret plan. _

_Thinking about these events now, Vegeta couldn't remember anything after his talk with Nappa. Had he slept immediately after the transmission? Funny, he wasn't supposed to have entered into the hibernation state so quickly, especially after having a good nap in the regeneration tank. Besides, the trip to Nutek wasn't so long that it required hibernation._

_Absently, he peered through the only window of his pod. Though it didn't offer much in terms of vision, he was sure that wasn't the Sector 40F, and a check at the communication screen and then at the holographic map confirmed that. His eyes widened as the coordinates flickered before him at the small black screen. He couldn't be further from his assigned destination, and in fact, the close-by unfamiliar sector didn't even have numbers or letters to label it, being just acknowledged by the computer as 'unknown'._

_"Blasted contraption." Vegeta mumbled behind clenched teeth, desperately wishing to believe that this malfunction was just accidental, though the little voice stinging in the back of his head was almost screaming now, "If I'll get in trouble for arriving late in Nutek, I'll kill the mechanic!" Angrily, he flicked the right coordinates to his destination. To his surprise, however, the computer flicked back to the former coordinates Vegeta had seen before. He tried again. Once again, those cursed numbers flickered back. _

_"Dammit!" Vegeta almost smashed his hand on the computer, restraining just because he was stuck out in space, and destroying the blasted thing would just put him in more trouble than he already was. No doubt it was a trap, and he had been foolish enough to fall into it. Now it was clear, the reason for that seemingly unnecessary time at the regeneration tank. Any competent technician would have time to program the computer in a short space of time while he was napping in the tank, and in a way that couldn't be undone by anyone save another expert (and Vegeta certainly wasn't). How in the universe could he be so naïve?_

_It didn't take even half of his intelligence to figure out why. He always had been discreet about all the encounters and planning things, but he knew that Nappa and Radditz weren't so careful. Everybody around them knew pretty well how much the three Saiyans hated Freeza. And nobody was very fond of the three or of Vegeta in particular anyway. Anyone could have tracked them down, or investigated until he found enough evidence to put Freeza on Vegeta's neck._

_The only thing surprising in all of this was the fact that Freeza had bothered with making such a sophisticated plan to get rid from him. It was not like the old worm. Forever, the prince always knew the unholy tortures that Freeza would make him go through if he had any suspicions that Vegeta was conspiring against him. In his nightmares, he frequently saw himself being dismembered limb by limb, ripped into pieces still alive, or burned slowly by the monster's energy beam until he was reduced to a pile of ashes. Freeza loved taunting and making blood run. Nothing pleased him more than to break anyone foolish enough to resist against him and watch personally as his victim lost every last bit of hope. Perhaps there was a hidden camera somewhere in the ship, and Freeza would be now savoring his distress._

_Well, obviously he wouldn't be able to fix the damned contraption by himself. So let's examine the other possibilities, he thought. He reached to his scouter, even though he was already skeptical about it. They wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to send him to nowhere and still let him take a functional device he could use to call for aid._

_As Vegeta expected, the scouter wasn't working. Quickly, he took it off and opened it. The small, delicate engines and wires had been completely eaten away, leaving nothing but a kind of smelly ooze. 'A pill. Very smart.' His mouth twisted in a bitter grin._

'Pill' was slang for a very sophisticated article for spies. A small capsule of a special acid, it could be kept indefinitely in storage. However, once taken from its container and in contact with oxygen, it took one hour for the acid to break the fragile coating of the pill and spread, destroying everything around it. A perfect weapon for murder or sabotage. If they had given him a broken scouter, there would always be the chance of Vegeta calling his companions and discovering the trick. Instead, they had slipped a pill in the scouter, so he could talk to Nappa without suspicion, before the scouter was 'knocked out'.

_Rationally, he searched into his mind for any other way possible to run from his situation. Yet, as much as Vegeta tried to stay coldly calm, a hint of despair was slowly insinuating through his brain. Well, it was in their interest to keep him alive, at least for a while, since the ship hadn't exploded yet or something. Probably, the ship was assigned to send him to any planet where he would be imprisoned, sold as a slave, or something similar. In that case, he could find a way of escaping. What he really feared was if the ship would be flying aimlessly until he was completely out of oxygen. A hint of fear flashed through his mind when this idea occurred to him. Anything but that! _

_As he scolded himself for having panicked so easily, one thing occurred to him. It was something he rarely used, but it was possible..._

_"Greetings, Vegeta", a familiar and very much hated voice interrupted his thoughts "Enjoying the trip?"_

_Vegeta looked down to see Freeza's face on the communication screen._

_"You're late," Vegeta muttered behind clenched teeth._

**********

"Ugly, isn't he?" sneered a high-pitched, unpleasant voice that sent shrills up the spine of anyone who heard it. Not that Syrup could be called a beauty paragon - even by the standards of his race he wouldn't be considered pretty, with his brown skin marked by black dots and reptilian faces with four malevolent yellow eyes.

His two companions didn't look much better, either. But the most remarkable things were not their appearances, or even the uniforms they were wearing. Any of them could be easily taken as a soldier of Freeza, because of their scouters and the trademark rubber armors. That was exactly the reason why they were dressed like that. Actually, neither of them nor the rest of their crew had the displeasure of meeting Freeza personally and none of them wished it. Like the Icejin, they were aliens who also lived off the natural sources and everything the inhabitants of other planets could produce, but they had their own independent life. Like a few species of insects that mimic the appearance of stronger predators in order to look more intimidating, these pirates used the fame of Freeza's armies to terrify the inhabitants of the planets they attacked. Not that they didn't have any power of their own, but their opponents' instinctual resistance spared time and physical health.

Of course, the true Freeza knew about their existence, but those pirates were smart. It would be foolish to remain forever in the same place, waiting to someday be found and burst into a million particles, so they constantly moved from one planet to another, preferably unknown ones. The last move, however, hadn't been exactly planned. It had been more emergence than anything. Everything was because their master had found the other two survivors of his own species. They were trouble, his companions had warned him, but the Master was stubborn.

A few scout parties had been sent in order to investigate the area, with both the purpose of searching for food and any intelligent forms of life living there, especially because their leader wanted to meet with them. None of the scouters were very enthused at such a task; to be honest, even to repair the damages the ship had suffered during their landing because of the storm looked more appealing. Besides, the main interest had already been found. But at least those three scouters wouldn't return empty-handed.

"He'll look more presentable after a good cleansing." Beer, the leading scouter, said with a shrug. He was a burly, furred man with average height and auburn hair surrounding his bony face. "Though I'm happy I'm not going to be the one who'll do that…"

"Even if the labs disinfect him completely, he'll still be ugly. And trash. It's not worth the trouble to take him to Master Turles. We should put him out of his misery right now."

"I don't care about your opinions, Syrup. We'll take him and Master Turles will decide if he'll serve his purpose or not." Seeing that the conversation was over, Beer turned to look at his other companion, Garana. Garana was a tall, slender man with a conic head and lavender, wrinkled skin, though he was still young. He was crouched by the ailing man they had found minutes ago among the wreckage. Apparently, it was a native, and the fact that he was completely naked just reinforced that theory, although Garana had hesitantly said that his clothes could have been torn off by the waters. His _ki_ was terribly low, and by now it was impossible to be sure if it was because of his current health state or because he was really weak - the fact was that they hadn't even detected him with their scouters, and if Beer hadn't tripped on him accidentally they would have taken him for a rotten piece of wood.

"So, how is he? Will he survive until we reach the ship?" the leader asked.

Garana turned his head to look at them, revealing a wrinkled face with a dark cave where his mouth was supposed to be, and his small eyes sunk in two circles of wrinkled skin.

"There's a ninety-percent possibility, I'd say, if there aren't any complications" Garana calculated. His voice was rough, but understandable. "I took out the water I could from his lungs and he's still too cold, but his breathing is regular and his pulse strong. Still, we should take him to the ship as fast as possible."

"Why?" Beer asked.

Garana hesitated, looking at the fainted prisoner as he prepared to speak.

"I don't like these cuts on his skin," he finally spoke, in a forceful tone, "they're superficial, probably caused by the rocks and other things he collided with in the river, but they might cause some infections. He might have some internal lesions; maybe that's why he hasn't woken up right now."

"Or he might be pretending." Syrup sneered, "Let me help you with that." Stepping forward, he nudged the prisoner's leg with the point of his boot. "Time to get up, sleeping ugly! We're not going to carry you!" he raised up his foot to kick him, but a violent punch on his back sent him diving nose-first on the muddy ground.

"Do you think you're really funny?" Beer growled "Who do you think is in charge in here? I want this specimen to get to the ship alive and in perfect condition. And if I say you'll carry him on his back, you'll do it!"

Syrup spat out the mud in his mouth before responding. His eyes glittered, as if he couldn't believe the other had done such a thing to him.

"You didn't need to do that." he hissed. "Can't you stand a simple joke? I don't give a damn if it was Absinth and not you who found the only star sphere in this little ball of shit..."

Pretending to be very busy examining the patient, Garana shook his head. That idiot, why he insisted babbling like that and getting more trouble, Garana didn't know. They were wasting precious time with all his arguing. Absently, he raised his fingers to his scouter. A sudden beep-beep and a flickering series of numbers on its only lens pulled him from his boredom.

"What the fuck...?" he blurted out, earning Beer's attention. The furred leader raised his eyebrows interrogatively, his right hand still clutching Syrup's collar.

"There's something coming in this direction," Garana explained. "Three, no, four people..."

Releasing Syrup, Beer quickly checked his scouter, frowning at the new signs. The lizard alien he'd been holding fell on his butt, but quickly jumped back to his feet. Mumbling and brushing some mud from himself and his scouter, he was about to check the signals, too, but suddenly a loud uproar came from the sky, making the three look up.

"Look!" Syrup yelled, pointing at the sky. Far above, something crossed the skies at a high velocity. Despite the distance and velocity, they could clearly see that it was a spaceship, even though it was a very unusually-shaped one, with four spikes protruding from it as legs.

"That's a Namekian spaceship," Beer said aloud as they watched the ship flying left and lower and lower, until it finally disappeared within the woods.

"But what the hell would Namekians want on this small planet?" Garana asked, dropping his jaw "They're not exactly a traveling people."

"Maybe they're tourists," Syrup offered.

"Or maybe they're after the same thing as us. Can't you see?" Beer growled. His two companions gasped simultaneously. Counting the four of them, there beeped a strong signal on the scouters that all of them already knew well. And it signaled not only one, but...

"Three spheres?" Syrup's eyes bulged "But why would Namekians be searching the spheres, too? They have all the magic they need!"

"Finally you said something intelligent!" Beer agreed "There's something fishy about this, and it's better for us to check before the others come here before us. No, Garana" he said, seeing the blue alien floating in the air with them, "stay with the prisoner. You weren't even supposed to have taken off with us!" he scolded.

"Why?" Garana's expression showed that he more or less expected that; still, he couldn't help but protest. "He's out of danger now. You might need my services, if these new guys give you too much work. Syrup can babysit the prisoner instead. "

"No, he can't. If I know Syrup well, he might kill the prisoner just to relieve his boredom, and then say it was an accident. I'll have a patrol come here and help you get this sorry ass to the ship...and for your own health, its better that he's still alive and sound when they find you." And with that, Beer flew away. Syrup gave a scornful, unpleasant laugh.

"Yeah, take good care of the Lazy Boy!" he sneered, then followed his leader, laughing as he found his own joke very funny.

Having nowhere to go but down, Garana stood several feet from where the unconscious man laid, glaring warily at him and cursing his own bad luck. He hadn't the courage to tell Beer what had been really bothering him...that the strange man they had found almost drowned in that sandbank could belong to the same race as Master Turles. Even with all the mud and dirt, the signs were evident...his face, his hair, even the furred tail. How those two idiots hadn't noticed all that, he didn't know. But Garana knew they would consider the hypothesis an absurd one and laugh at him. Freeza had extinguished the Saiyan race a long time ago. Even the only heir of the Royal House was dead, five years ago, according to those guys Nappa and Radditz. They were dead now - and good riddance! They had brought with them nothing but trouble. Now the only Saiyans alive were Master Turles and that freaky copy of his that lived on Earth...and even then it was only a matter of time until that blasted planet was destroyed by the Master's secret weapon. But if there was a Saiyan on Earth, couldn't there be another Saiyan living elsewhere as well?

Slowly, Garana took a few steps towards the still immobile man. He knew that Saiyans used to send their babies to purge other planets, as a sort of initiation and training. Thanks to that, Master Turles and his Earth clone had survived their planet's destruction. And if they could, why not other Saiyans?

Of course, he could just be imagining things, he thought, more to reassure himself, as he walked in circles. After all, his _ki_ was too low to belong to a Saiyan .Maybe he was just being paranoid. With these thoughts, he walked a little closer to the ailing man. Garana wasn't sure if he was really fainted or just pretending, but anyway the handcuffs would keep him from causing any trouble. Still, that scout party was taking forever. Blasted Beer, he probably had forgotten sending someone to help him. Better to call them himself.

Garana just had reached the communication button on his scouter when a low whining called his attention. His eyes instantaneously dropped where the man still lay. The prisoner stirred and moved his head, then frowned a little, apparently noticing he couldn't move his arms freely, but he didn't open his eyes. His legs folded a little, resting the soles of his feet on the ground, as if he was going to try and sit up. Sure that there was no danger, Garana started walking towards him.

"Ooohhh... " the man moaned, blinking "Where I am? And why can't I feel my hands?"

"Shut up, or you're not going feel your entire body." Garana hissed threateningly, as his hand slid toward the laser pistol in his belt. The prisoner blinked again with a confused expression, as if he couldn't see Garana clearly.

"I need some water..." he said in a pleading tone. The blue alien hesitated and started putting his pistol back on his belt. Slowly, he bent down over the other man.

A move he would regret in his last seconds of life.

In a quick movement and using his tail and legs as coils, the man took impulse and pressed the handcuffs against Garana's throat, and at the same time his hands grabbed the back of the pirate's neck, forcing the damn things against his skin. Caught off-guard, Garana lost his balance and fell on his back, receiving the whole weight of the former prisoner toppling over him. The pirate still made a move to get his pistol, but the tail of his opponent wrapped around his thin arm and twisted it until the bone snapped with a dry sound.

Despite all the pain and despair taking over his senses, Garana couldn't help but feel shocked. Although he was considered weak in comparison to most of Turles' cohorts, he wasn't supposed to be easily defeated by this half-drowned native with such pitiful _ki_. And, in the last seconds his brain worked, he realized his suspicion was right. That man was really a S...

Then a last stroke of the handcuffs finally ripped his throat, releasing a jet of dark blue fluid at Vegeta's face with a gurgled sound. He received the smelly, clammy liquid with a disgusted face. Spitting and blinking, he tried unsuccessfully to clean his face with his forearms, before staring at the corpse with an expression of wonder and disbelief. Slowly, the realization dawned on him, making a slow, evil laugh come from the deep of his own throat.

"Thanks for saving my life," he said to Garana's corpse. An old, devious flame that hadn't come in years danced once again within his black eyes.

Garana - Guarana, a non-alcoholic drink very popular in some countries of South America.


End file.
